Ejector.



No. 042,046. Patented 1an. 23, |900. L. E. MILLER.

EJECTUR.

(Application led Apr, 5, 1898.) LN u M n d el. l

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ilrtiTnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS ELDON MILLER, OF HELENA, MONTANA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO TIIE ELLIOT MACHINE AND MINING COMPANY, F NEV JERSEY.

EJ ECTOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 642,046, dated January 23; 1900.

Application filed April 5, 1898. Serial No. 676,547. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern,.- which is screwed the adjustable steam or jet Be it known that I, LOUIS ELDON MILLER, tube 17, threaded on its exterior and extenda citizen of the United States of America, and ing into the interior of the body 12. This a resident of Helena, county of Lewis and steam-tube has a passage extending through Clarke, and State of Montana, have invented it which is gradually decreased in diameter 55 certain new and usefulImprovementsin Ejecfrom the outer end to a point 18, adjacent to tors for Use in Thawing Frozen Ground, of the inner end, and is then flared outwardly which the following is a specification. to form the steam-discharge aperture 19.

My invention is an improvement in steam- 21 is a jam-nut on the outside of steam-tube to ejectors; and it consists in the novel features 17, which is to be screwed up against the end 6o hereinafter described, reference being had to 2O of the main body 12 to secure the steamthe accompanying drawings, which illustrate tube 17 rigidly in position. one form in which I have contemplated em- The main body of the ejector is provided bodying my invention, and said invention is with a threaded aperture exactly opposite to x5 fully disclosed in the following description that which receives the steam-tube 17, and 65 and claims. in this latter aperture is screwed the dis- Referringto the said drawings, Figurelrepcharge-tube 23 of the ejector, as shown' in resents a sectional view of a mine and appa- Fig. 2. The inner end of the discharge-tube ratus for operating in frozen ground, showis provided with an inwardly-tapering recess 2o ing the manner in which I use my improved 2li, the mouth of which is opposite and con- 7o ejector. Fig. 2 is asectional view of the ejecsiderably larger than the delivery-aperture tor detached. j 19 of the steam-tube 17. This recess 24 com- In the drawings, 1 represents the vertical municates with an interior passage 25 in the shaft of amine sunk into frozen ground and in discharge-tube 23, which increases in size 25 which I propose to use my improved ejector. gradually to the outer end of the tube. There 75 2 represents the ground surrounding the it flaresoutwardly,asshown at26. Theouter shaft, and 3 3 represent the lateral drifts, exend of the tube23is externally screw-threaded tending from the shaft into the ore-bearing to fit ordinary hose-couplings of the required strata above the bed-rock 4. A cavity is standard size. When the ejectoris to be used 3o formed at the bottom of the mine for the reto discharge water close to the ejector, the dis- So ception of water, either by making a sump, charge-tube 23 is provided with a nozzle 27, as indicated at G, or where the bed-rock is inhaving an internal passage 28 of the same clined by allowing the water to collect at the size as the passage in the tube 23 at its outer lowest part of the drift, as indicated at 7. end, which passage 28 is gradually reduced The water will be supplied by the melting of at the discharge end of the nozzle, as shown 85 the frozen earth and by the condensation of at 29. The nozzle 27 is secured to the tube steam, as hereinafter set forth. 23 by a threaded coupling-ring 30. When it 3 represents a windlass provided with a is desired to deliver the water at a distance hoisting-rope and bucket for elevating the from the ejector, the nozzle 27is removed and 4,0 soil containing the ore out of the mine. a piece of hose 13 is connected thereto by a 9o 9 represents a steam-boilerhavingasteamstandard coupling, (see Fig. 1,) the said hose outlet 10 connected to apipe 11, extending to being provided with a nozzle 14 for directing the bottom of the shaft l. the stream.

12 represents themain body of myimproved In operation the ejector is laid in a pool of ejector, which is preferably substantially water at the bottom of the mine, which may 95 spherical and is provided with means for adbe in the sump G or a pool collected at the initting water to its interior, in this instance lowest portion of the drift, as at 7, and the a series of apertures 22. At one end 20 of steam-pipe 11 is connected to the steam-tube the main body of the ejector it is provided 17, preferably through the casing of a cut-olf 5o with an interiorlythreaded aperture, into valve 32, a pipe 15, and elbow 16, as shown, roo

so that the flow of steam can be controlled close to the ejector. The steam passing from the steam-tube to the discharge-tube 23 is condensed, water is drawn into the casing or main body 12 and heated by contact with the steam, and the hot water is forced out through the discharge-tube 23 and through the nozzle 27 (orhose 13 and'nozzle 14) against the frozen ground with great force, thereby thawing out and disintegrating the soil, which is hoisted to the surface, while the water returns to the pool and is used over and over.

If the water is used too hot, it produces a mist or fog in the mine, and to avoid this the jam-nut 2O can be loosened and the steamtube 17 unscrewed toV withdraw it farther from the end 24 of the delivery-nozzle, and thereby allow more water to be drawn in in proportion to the amount of steam used. By this construction the steam-tube 17 can be adjusted to produce the desired temperature of the Water discharged against the soil. In order to keep the ejector off of the bottom of the pool, l provide it with a large disk 31, which is preferably provided with a central aperture and is placed loosely over the steamtube 17, so that the said disk can revolve as the ejector is moved, but will'keep the ejector above the bottom of the pool and prevent dirt and gravel from entering the ejector. This disk or wheel also gives a downward inclination to the nozzle 27 when said nozzle is used for digging a shaft, causing the stream of hot water to impinge on the soil in the sump in which the injector is used.

It will be noted that by adjusting the steam .or jet tube 17in respect to the discharge-tube 2 3 the temperature of the water can be regulated, as before described, and the force with which the hot water is discharged can also be regulated and controlled. The farther the jet or steam-tube 17 is adjusted toward the discharge-tube the less Water will be admitted into the ejector, and the water will be discharged at higher temperature and with greater force than when the tube 17 is moved farther away from the discharge-tu be.

' The process of and apparatus for thawing frozen ground herein shown and described in connection with the disclosure of the specific construction of my improved ejector is not herein claimed, as it forms the subjectmatter of another application, filed by me on the 27th day of May, 1899, and given serial number 718,549.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. An ejector for thawing frozen ground comprising among its members, ahollow main body provided with apertures for the admission of water, a discharge-nozzle rigidly secured to said main body, a steam-inlet pipe secured to said main body in line with the discharge-nozzle, and a supporting device connected with said main body for holding the main body above the bottom of the pool in which the ejector operates, and giving the nozzle a downward inclination, substantially as described.

2. An ejector for thawing frozen ground comprising among its members, a hollow main body provided with apertures for the admission of water, a discharge-nozzle rigidly connected to said main body, a longitudinallyadjustable steam-inlet tube secured to said main body in line with the discharge-nozzle and a supporting device secured to said main body for holding it above the bottom of the pool in which the ejector operates, and giving a downward inclination to said nozzle, substantially as described.

3. An ejector for thawing frozen ground, comprising among its members, ahollow main body provided with apertures for the admission of water, a discharge-tube provided with a detachable nozzle, a longitudinally-adjustable steam-inlet pipe in line with said discharge-tube and a rotary supporting-disk secured to said main body on the side opposite said nozzle, substantially as described.

4. An ejector for thawing frozen ground, comprising among its members, a hollow main body having its walls provided with waterinlet apertures, a discharge-tube secured to said main body and extending into the same, said tube having its longitudinal passage contracted at a point near its inner end and flaring in both directions from said contracted portion, and a longitudinally-adjustable steam-tube extending into said hollow body in line with the discharge-tube having its longitudinal passage contracted at a point near the inner end of the tube and flaring outwardly toward th'e ends of the tube from such contracted portion, a nozzle detachably secured to said discharge-tube and a supporting device for said main body, substantially as described.

5. An ejector for thawing frozen ground, comprising among its members, a hollow, substan tially spherical body having its walls provided with water-inlet apertures, a dischargetube rigidly secured to said main body, a nozzle detachably but rigidly secured to said discharge tube, av longitudinally adjustable steam-inlet tube having a threaded portion extending into said main body, and a revoluble supporting disk or wheel mounted on said steam-inlet tube and adapted to hold the main body above the bottom of the pool in which the ejector operates and to give said nozzle a downward inclination, substantially as described.

Signed by me at Seattle, King county,Vash ington, this 28th day of March, 1898.

LOUIS ELD ON MILLER. l

/Vitnesses:

JAMEsLinoLAUGHLnQ NIoHoLAUs JETTE.

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